"Despite sweeping reform of food safety laws intended to make what we eat less dangerous, the number of Americans falling ill or dying from contaminated food has increased 44% since last year, according to a report released Wednesday."

"Tainted cantaloupe, unsafe mangoes, meat and the recent peanut butter recall -- which so far has infected 25 people, mostly children, in 19 states -- has left consumers struggling to keep up with the dizzying list of ever-changing toxic edibles.

Approximately 48 million people get sick from eating tainted food each year, the report's authors, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said, arguing more must be done to protect Americans from unsafe food.

The report says there were 718 illnesses directly linked to food recalls in 2011. There were 1,035 illnesses from January to September 2012 -- an increase of 44%."